WWI and the Christmas Truce

A few facts WWI started in 1914 and ended in It was called the Great War and it was one of the biggest tragedies of all times. Many people died and those who survived never recovered completely. When the war broke out there was great enthusiasm all over Great Britain and lots of young men enrolled in the army…

Soldiers A man had to pass a physical test to enlist in the army. At the outbreak of war, he had to be aged between 19 and 38 and taller than 5 feet 3 inches ( 160 cm). However, there were many younger and older soldiers who lied about their age.

Each soldier had to carry a lot of equipment: Gas mask. Weapons and ammunition. Protective clothes 'Webbing equipment' (this included a haversack containing personal items such as knife, fork, shaving kit, water bottle, soap and towel). Shovel.

TRENCHES On the Western Front, the war was fought in trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches where soldiers lived all day and night. There were many lines of German trenches on one side and many lines of Allied trenches on the other. In the middle, was no man's land The trenches could be very muddy and smelly. There were many dead bodies buried nearby and latrines (toilets). Millions of rats infested the trenches and some grew as big as cats. There was also a big problem with lice.

Soldiers suffered from many illnesses and injuries on the front line because of the awful conditions in the trenches…

Land –Sea-Air Land battles were fought mainly on the Western and Eastern Fronts Battles at sea were known as naval battles. The main area where these took place was in the North Sea (between Great Britain and the rest of Western Europe) and the Atlantic

Airplanes were very recent inventions when World War One broke out. As aircraft technology developed, planes became very important to the war. France only had 140 aircraft when war began but by the end of it, they had used 4,500.

Communicating with home As well as the fighting and problems with health, one of the biggest issues that soldiers faced on the front line was homesickness Soldiers wrote letters to their loved ones back home. An officer checked the letters to make sure they did not speak about army secrets and that they were not too sad. This was known as censorship.

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No guns were fired on Christmas Day During the first Christmas of the war, something unique happened in some parts of the front line. Both sides on the Western Front agreed to put down their weapons. This became known as the Christmas Truce.

Even in the most difficult moments and in the most dreadful actions of war there can always be great humanity and there is always space for love.